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The water at Little River is up on the rocks beyond the retaining wall. There's a fisherman on the first landing of the stairs, and a boat of fishermen over the entrance to the cave. There is no discernible water movement, outflow or inflow, and no debris on the surface. The water is very dark. Surprisingly, the parking lot is empty! Pictures later, the signal here ain't so great for uploading...:roll:
Shirley
About 6 inches of viz. Inside the cavern, the silt poofies appeared to be heading slowly into the cave, instead of out. Just finding the cavern was FUN! All semblance of light from the surface disappears at about 3 ft.
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...2/pict0128.jpg
And to think I was there with you days ago and there was a rock island in the middle of the pool.Quote:
Originally Posted by sskasser
hey, look, jean, just like the first time i was there - remember? we were standing on the wall...
Yes , I remember (SMILE). lolQuote:
Originally Posted by BabyDuck
Lets hope it doesn't start to syphon again. (EEK)
Or at least on a large scale.
Jeano Beano
Yep, hard to believe! I have some pictures of you and Forrest and :smt079 from that day....I need to go dig those up! LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Squirrel Girl
Agreed, it sure seems to be "leaning" in that direction. Maybe it'll kick up soon and start spitting us out again...woo hooo!Quote:
Originally Posted by jeandiver
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...en_and_now.jpg
Little River May '07 and Little River August 30, 2008
Wow, what a difference. That tree in the foreground sure has gotten to be a much darker green!
I liked the before picture better. Nice contrast though. Thanks for the pictures. No locals swimming on the holiday?
Quote:
Originally Posted by metaldector
Saturday when I took the picture, there were only fishermen, no swimmers. After our attempted dive, there were a couple of kids swimming. It was really scary hearing them talk. One wasn't a strong swimmer and, had she disappeared beneath the surface, recovering her in a timely manner would have been impossible. That was early in the day though. I went back by on Sunday afternoon and there were lots of swimmers. The water was at the same level, only much darker looking (was "strong tea" colored Saturday, more like British coffee on Sunday).
Little River looks diveable today. Visable boil on the surface. Let me know if anyone goes in. Ken
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/100_0865.jpg
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/100_0864.jpg
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle...1/100_0863.jpg
Dove it yesterday, went half way back in the florida room. The flow was moderate and the vis was 15-20 foot but everything was coted in a fine dust.
Dove Little River today up the Harper tunnel. The river is down, but the flow is "kicking". Vis was about 30 feet, tannic and full of particulate. There was even hard flow in the harper tunnel. The line there is under sand in some places, but the flow swept it right out. With the river dropping, the flow will only increase. Depth at the iron stake was 21 feet. Happy diving.....the ride out was like a pinball machine......Ken
I was with Ken yesterday and must 2nd his description of the flow as "kickin". I've been diving LR for around 3 years and it was by far the strongest I've encountered. Maybe this is like the "old days" that are often referred to. I remember listing to a loud, pulsating rumble while doing deco, which I had never noticed before.
Well, we did a stage dive back several years ago when it was, what I would call kickin' We had to drop our stages (AL80) at the first big dorf marker. We had breathed them down to 2/3rd's by then. But we did make it past the dome room on back gas after that.
Sometime around 1998 I was diving with a friend who hit thirds on 104s BEFORE the first "big dorf marker." That was some kicking flow.
(Or tea.)
Edit: To clarify, that "or tea" wasn't for exaggeration, it was for one-upmanship.
Would that be an example of the "old days"?Quote:
Originally Posted by Slüdge
Maybe, 1991-95 No One Swam to the well on backgas. Maybe double stage. To get to the well you scootered to the flat rock past the Dome room. them swam.Quote:
Originally Posted by Serota
I hate to tell you this but that's just normal Little River Flow. Dove it today and it was great fun! We just did the Wormhole sidemount cave but it was still fun. Tons of those little flounder guys in the basin. The cave is looking great. Good to see it back to normal. CindyQuote:
Originally Posted by Serota
I did a solo dive at Little River this afternoon and not only was I the only diver there period I was the only person there for most of the time. (When I got out of the water there were a handful of people walking around but they all left too.)
Also, I was told by an older couple that someone was there shooting stills and video and they thought it was someone with the park service. (What agency I have no idea.)
I went in and took the Merry-Go-Round bypass passage and then got back on the main line and swam up to the 1000 ft. arrow before turning and heading out. On the way out I took the Serpentine tunnel.
I too noticed dozens of the small flounders, mostly in the cavern area and a lot of silt all over, some piled up in places like the by pass and serpentine areas.
The visibility seemed to be around 30 feet mostly due to all of the silt particles in the water and I saw leaves and some branches up to the point I turned around at 1000 feet. The flow was fairly strong, stronger than we've seen there recently.
I also looked for (and found) one of the decaying catfish I've been seeing since June towards the end of the by pass and found him to be mostly bones at this point.
It seemed like -- for lack of a better description -- a Little River decorated early for Halloween with silt everywhere.
I enjoyed my dive there though as I always do.
You just reminded me of the time I was there in late October, and when we rounded the corner, sitting on Table Rock was a Jack-o-lantern wearing a hockey mask!Quote:
Originally Posted by WEPIV
That would certainly get your attention, especially if diving there alone and not expecting to see anything like that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Slüdge
The closest I've come to seeing anything like Jack-o-lanterns in a cave were some plastic or ceramic skulls stuffed away in the lower bowels of Devil's Den, and that was this past summer. Nowhere near Halloween.
On 10/4/08 we made 2 dives at Little River - made it to the back of the Florida room.
Moderate flow and vis 40 feet. Basin is clear.
Ditto to the above post.